Legacy
by Esum Amla
Summary: Hyugacentric A character study of Hyuga Hiashi and the influences that shape the man. Set within the 'Strength of Will' arc. Rated for language.


A/N: Hello. Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed 'Common Ground'. This story is my next installment in my Strength of Will arc. It's from Hiashi's POV, which made the story that much more difficult to write because getting into Hiashi's head is not easy. I might as well say this story is AU because I know there are going to be some inconsistencies--hopefully not too many--but I think it works with the story. I'm experimenting with the flow of the story so please forgive any confusion. Otherwise, read and enjoy and if you really like it leave a review.

Rating: T for language

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Naruto.

Legacy

By Esum Amla

It would be inaccurate to say that Hyuga Hiashi was a natural leader. He would never admit how he struggled just to hide his doubts during the early years of his rule. Truthfully (and not even pain of death would get him to confess this now), he felt deep down that fate somehow got it wrong; that his brother should have been born first. Then maybe, just maybe, Hizashi would be alive today.

000

The first word they learned was 'we'—as in 'I'--for Hiashi and Hizashi did see themselves as part of the other. It made things problematic for their caretakers because they could not treat the boys differently. If one needed to be put down for a nap, the other would expect to be put down as well regardless of if he needed one. If one had to see the medic, they both sat in the waiting room equally dreading the painful shot. They would immediately seek each other out if they were separated and the experience of one was shared with the other so they could both process it and decide how they felt about it. This odd mentality (for twins was a rare occurrence in the Hyuga Clan) carried over into their training. One's success was their success and the same went for their failures.

While their closeness baffled and fascinated people, Hiashi did not see anything strange about it. It was simple: Hizashi was the other half of his soul, his best friend, his beloved brother and he could say with a certainty that no child should possess that Hizashi felt the exact same way.

000

Many on the council at the time had advised their father to separate them as soon as possible but the clan leader saw nothing wrong with their strong attachment to each other. In fact, he saw it as an advantage. After all, Hizashi was to be Hiashi's protector and their brotherly closeness could only strengthen the bond between protector and protected.

He observed that the boys seemed to already fall naturally into their predestined roles. Hizashi was more assertive and a bit impulsive, always ready to jump to his brother's defense who was far more reserved and a little shy. Hiashi had the patience and shrewdness needed as a leader but he always appeared to show deference to his more hot-headed brother during training who had more of a natural instinct when it came to fighting.

He managed to hold the council off for an additional two years but when the boys turned five, their father decided to put that bond to the test.

000

Hiashi looked at his brother anxiously as Hizashi trembled with pain, the newly applied seal standing out starkly on the feverish brow.

"Why did they do this? I don't understand," Hiashi demanded, close to tears. He hated to see his brother suffer.

Hizashi gave a shaky smile and gave a slight shrug. "I dunno. It's okay. It doesn't hurt so bad."

"Liar," Hiashi said without any venom. His brother always tried to down play everything because he didn't want Hiashi to worry. The boy hated it but Hizashi did it anyway. "Why would father do this to us?"

Hizashi was about to answer when he suddenly paled and covered his mouth. "I think I'm going to be sick."

Hiashi frantically looked around to find something for his brother to throw up in but he was too late. Hizashi suddenly began puking violently on the floor and the sight of it made Hiashi burst into tears at his own helplessness and his brother's agony.

That night, Hiashi would learn how to care for someone inflicted with the curse seal.

_Clear broth is best served for an upset stomach. _

_A dark room keeps the headaches at bay. _

_A fever has a predictable cycle that lasts approximately one night or more depending on how long the seal was activated. _

_Sleep is the best form of medicine. _

000

At the age of twelve, their father died mysteriously and Hiashi was thrust into the political world as the Head of the Clan. He was terrified, young and lonely. He had been separated from his brother for years, each now having their own responsibilities in their respective houses. Occasionally, they managed to sneak out at night and see each other but those opportunities quickly became few and far between.

At their father's funeral, Hiashi stood alone, stone-faced with rigid posture. His brother was in the back with the other Branch members forbidden to come any closer. During the entire ceremony, Hiashi felt as though a part of him was missing and not for the first time did he feel the world was just so tragically unfair.

000

Hiashi _**hated**_ the curse seal but even he was not a strong enough clan leader to abolish it. Traditions in the Hyuga Clan were hard to break and he learned quickly that those in power will do everything they can to stay in power. Amazingly enough, he can count on one hand how many times he's activated the seal.

It all but kills him to know that three out of the five times was his own brother.

000

"Get out! What are you doing here?" Hizashi shook violently from the after effects of the seal activation. His back was turned away from his brother who came to his room to see him. "Wanted to look again at your handy work?"

"You left me no choice," Hiashi stated flatly but with some remorse. He had learned over the years to cover his fragile emotions with a heavy layer of stoicism. He was beginning to gain a reputation for his aloof manner and most of the credit should go to Hizashi who habitually wounded him with his hateful words. For the past ten years it had been nothing but a test of wills between the brothers.

A cynical snort. "How convenient for the Main House. 'We wouldn't torture you so much if you behaved like the trained monkey we want you to be!'"

"Stop it, Hizashi!"

"Or what? You're going to activate my seal again?"

Hiashi resisted the strong urge to scream and pound his stubborn brother over the head; to remind him that he was not the only one suffering from this ill fate. While Hizashi had a chance to go on missions and make friends, Hiashi had to stay behind, alone in a house surrounded by old men who wished to manipulate and use him at every turn. Hizashi had a chance to experience life outside of the clan and Hiashi wanted to throw it in his face that it was so because he argued with the council for months to persuade them from passing a law that would confine the Branch members to the Hyuga compound. He did it all for him.

"Who is taking care of you?" he asked instead when he saw his brother pale.

"That--does not concern--you!" Hizashi gritted through clenched teeth for he was particularly defiant this day. "I don't need you! Get out! Don't ever--come back!"

'_Liar_,' he thought with no venom. Hiashi never gave away how badly his brother's words hurt him (though he suspected Hizashi had a pretty good idea). Instead he gave one last look at the trembling back before rising and quietly leaving the room, vowing never to return.

For years the brothers did not speak to each other. The Hyuga clan began to prosper under Hiashi's rule who was said to have surpassed his father in leadership and skill and Hizashi became a respected ninja of the Leaf, earning praise from the Hokage himself.

_One's success was their success and the same went for their failures._

Fate would give the brothers another chance to speak when Hizashi arrived unexpectedly in Hiashi's private rooms in the middle of the night with a baby in his arms.

000

"How did this happen?" Hiashi asked in bewilderment as he stared down at the sleeping baby.

Hizashi scowled. "I hope to God I don't have to explain that to you." He was pacing the room with nervous energy and his anxiety was making him snarky. He'd always been that way.

Hiashi resisted the urge to roll his eyes but he did scowl in return mirroring his brother perfectly. "You know what I'm talking about."

Hizashi sighed and ran his hand through his hair—an uncharacteristically nervous gesture. "She was a ninja. We spent one night together while on a mission, that was that."

Hiashi frowned as he regarded his brother, annoyed at the vagueness and the flippant tone. He wanted to say many things such as 'why couldn't you keep it in your pants' or 'this irresponsible behavior is not appropriate for a Hyuga' but decided that none of that would be very productive and would most likely result in a fight.

And he was determined that the first conversation he had with his brother in years was not going to be a fight regardless of how difficult the situation may be.

He looked back at the baby boy sleeping before him and sighed. He was quite small, underweight actually, but quiescent. He barely uttered a sound. "Where is she now?"

"It doesn't matter. She doesn't want anything to do with him—or the clan."

The bitterness was hard to ignore so Hiashi merely nodded as he took in the information.

Hizashi came to stand next to him and they both looked down at this new life that certainly did not ask to be here. "When she first told me, I wanted to deny it but…"

"But then you saw him."

"Yes, he…"

"Looks just like father," Hiashi completed with some frustration. The child was all Hyuga—spidery blue veins faintly ran across the temples and eyelids indicating the child had the trademark white eyes and most likely a strong Byakugan. Add in the almost translucent skin and dark hair and there was no denying this one. Hiashi could appreciate why Hizashi was so anxious. He was unmarried and the brother of the Clan Head. Bastard children were not well received and the things done in the past in the name of purity made Hiashi's stomach turn. "Don't worry. I'll take care of it," he said with conviction.

He could all but see the tension melt from his brother's body. "Thank you," he said rather awkwardly.

Hiashi nodded already planning how he would deal with the council. It would not be easy. "What are you going to name him?"

"I was thinking Neji, in honor of how screwed up this situation is."

"That is utterly tasteless," Hiashi said fighting the sudden urge to laugh. He hadn't laughed in so long.

"Well, I like it."

"You are not calling my nephew 'Screw.'"

"It seems quite appropriate to me."

"Please, brother. Think of this boy's future." He could already see the school kids lining up to beat him (Not that Hiashi was worried. The boy was a Hyuga, his nephew, after all).

Hizashi sobered immediately and all joviality was gone. "I have been thinking about his future from the moment I learned I was going to be a father."

Hiashi frowned and bowed his head.

"The whole time, I was hoping he wouldn't look like me, that he would be able to pass for anything other than a Hyuga. When I finally saw him, I all but cried because I knew that his fate was already set. He would either die at the council's command or you would brand him with the curse seal condemning him to a slower death."

"If I had the power to change things…"

'_I've_ _tried. I've tried so damn hard.'_

"Empty words, brother. Save them," Hizashi cut in tiredly with no malice.

The two men stood silently, each lost in their own morose thoughts but Hiashi could not help but be selfishly glad he was talking to his brother again. He had missed this so much.

"Do you want to hold him?" Hizashi asked suddenly.

"I don't want to wake him," Hiashi responded with some surprise.

"Nonsense. You're his uncle. You should hold him," Hizashi said as he gently picked the baby up and placed him in his brother's waiting arms.

Hiashi couldn't help but smile at the sensation of the light weight in his arms and the feel of the tiny hand gripping his finger. He'd always wanted to be a father and holding his nephew for the first time only intensified those feelings. _'I would guard this child with my life,' _he suddenly realized. "You're not seriously going to call him Neji, are you?"

"I'm really starting to like the sound of it," Hizashi answered nonchalantly in a tone that said his mind was made up.

"Give it some time, brother," Hiashi said as he gently rocked the baby when the boy started to become restive. "I'm sure you'll come up with something more appropriate."

000

A few weeks later after extensive meetings and changes in bylaws, Hiashi officially added the name of his nephew to the Hyuga family tree.

Hyuga Neji

"Stupid baka," he muttered a small smile on his face.

000

He rarely saw his brother or his nephew over time but when he did he couldn't help but think that Hizashi was a good father despite the difficult circumstances. Little Neji idolized him, following along in his father's footsteps, doing all he could to please him. The boy was looking more and more like their father everyday and he'd never seen Hizashi as happy as when he was with his son.

Hiashi had so many questions for his brother. Did he love this woman? Did she ever love him? She was a ninja, was she still alive, from another village? How did it feel to be a father, to have a little one so dependent on you?

He had these questions because war was brewing and the council was pushing him to marry and produce heirs. The woman they had chosen for him was very kind—and amazingly beautiful--and he surprisingly found himself in the strange yet exhilarating position of being in love and wanting to do something for his own personal reasons and not because of duty.

'_Clan be damned,' _he thought when his new bride sensuously revealed herself on their wedding night.

It didn't seem right, especially in the midst of hardship and fear, to be so happy but when he held his baby girl for the first time, he knew endless joy. Like any new parent, he had big plans for his daughter. As heiress, she was going to do what he could not—unite the houses and make the Hyuga Clan whole. She was going to have the strongest Byakugan, master the Gentle Fist in a year ("Darling, be reasonable. A year?") Oh, alright, three years and she was going to free her uncle and cousin from their cage. She would make him so proud.

"Neji will protect her well," Hizashi said when he held baby Hinata for the first time and there was something like fatherly pride in his voice as he gazed upon his new niece.

000

What drove Hiashi more than anything when it came to his rule as leader was saving his brother and when they had children it became saving them as well. For Hiashi saw Neji as his son and he knew by the way Hizashi doted on Hinata (and the brothers through mutual cooperation always made a point to allow such opportunities) that his brother saw her more as a daughter than a niece. It made sense after all; they were genetically the same and despite the hardships and clan politics, the strong bond of brothers was still there.

Which made it all the more heartbreaking when he had to apply the curse seal on his nephew's forehead at age four. The council would not be swayed to wait a moment longer and reminded Hiashi cruelly that he should be grateful the bastard was even alive. In their opinion, they had already shown themselves to be quite magnanimous and had every right to demand the child be placed in the Hyuga cage.

'_Monsters_,' Hiashi thought bitterly as he took Neji's trusting hand. He was just starting to see an improvement in his relationship with his brother. This would surely destroy it.

The process took far longer than necessary for Hiashi simply couldn't do it. He had Neji's favorite foods served during meal time and listened attentively as the happy child talked naively about how brave his father was and how pretty his little cousin was (he found it amusing that the little boy was already starting to become protective of his daughter after knowing her for a short while). Hiashi noted that his nephew was unusually bright and felt a tinge of sadness that the boy's potential would not be completely reached.

He waited until the boy's energy began to wane and with little effort put Neji in a deep sleep. There was no need for him to suffer. For a while, he simply held the sleeping child, thinking back to the first time he held him in his arms as a baby and how his brother fretted over this impending day. He thought back to his own helplessness as a child when Hizashi suffered under the curse seal and the bitter irony that despite being the leader of one of the most powerful clans in Fire Country he was still powerless to change this fate.

"I'm sorry," he said sadly as he rested his cheek against the sleeping child's hair, "I am so sorry."

He laid Neji down on a futon and smoothed the soft brown hair away from the forehead. With quick, practiced signs his hands began to glow with hot chakra and with the tip of his fingers began to apply the curse seal to the child's smooth brow. Neji's body jerked involuntarily but he did not wake up. Hiashi used his free hand to steady the small body and steeled his will to complete the process. It would be far worse for Neji if he stopped.

The curse seal insinuated itself into the child's brain as the familiar patterns began to form on the now sweating and blotchy forehead. To Hiashi's dismay, Neji wet himself and his eyelids began to flutter erratically revealing the whites of his eyes. It was a rare yet known occurrence that there were some who were more susceptible to the curse seal than others and it looked like Neji would be particularly sensitive to it. This did not bode well for his subsequent recovery.

When it was done, Hiashi personally cleaned the unconscious boy up and gently carried him to where Hizashi was waiting for him, who didn't seem surprised or worried by the long delay. He could not look his brother in the eye as he handed his nephew over and the overwhelming guilt and shame nearly broke his heart in two.

Hizashi sighed. "You have always been too sensitive, brother," he said sadly as he cradled the small body, staring hard at the bright seal on his son's forehead. "You knew this day would come."

"I suppose you are right," Hiashi said flatly and in his mind he sounded so defeated.

Hizashi looked at him and gave him a sad smile. "Thank you."

Hiashi was not expecting that. "For what?"

Hizashi shrugged, shifting slightly to better support the dead weight of his oblivious child. "For doing your best."

000

He set out to save his brother but in the end it was his brother who saved him.

And once again he was powerless to stop fate. His brother chose to die, to break out of his cage and be free and Hiashi was angry and hurt and devastated. How could he leave him? How could he leave Neji?

"I want you to live a long time, brother," Hizashi said during their last private moment together. He was writing in a scroll and Hiashi was sitting off to the side not doing much. That sucker punch hurt like hell. "I want you to watch our children grow up and meet our grandchildren."

"Neji will not understand."

Hizashi stopped writing long enough to look at his brother whose head was bowed and his shoulders slumped. "One day he will," he said as he resumed writing. For one who was hours away from dying he seemed so blasé. Hiashi wanted to throttle him. "He just needs time. He's very much like me after all."

Hiashi gave a small, watery laugh that almost hurt. "Oh, then I suppose it will take…at least a decade before he's ready to listen to reason."

"Give or take a year," Hizashi said not missing a beat as he signed the letter. Once he ensured the ink was dry, he rolled up the scroll and walked over to where his brother sat. "Give this to him when you think he's ready."

Hiashi took the scroll mechanically and slipped it inside his robe. Of course he was going to do it. It was his brother's dying wish.

"I have no regrets protecting you and our Neji and Hinata, Hiashi. Please do not mourn me long."

"You make it seem so easy," still he could not look at him and his voice was full of despair, "I was the one who always needed you. I was supposed to save you and yet...I am useless and you have taken matters into your own hands and we are left behind."

"Left behind? No, I intend to haunt your footsteps, brother. I will not leave you behind. You are the other half of my soul."

At that, Hiashi cried like he had not done since he was a child, the burden of his responsibilities to the Clan--_'cursed, damnable Clan!'_--and his grief overwhelming his senses.

He felt his brother's arms wrap around him in comfort and he clung to him desperately as grief shook him.

"Always the sensitive one," Hizashi said affectionately. "You know, I heard father say once that your empathy was the reason why you'd make a good leader."

"Liar," Hiashi said without venom. The truth was that their father found his propensity to crying alarming and he was often reprimanded for it. Hizashi, oddly enough, was the one who thought it a good quality and defended him often, even at the expense of his curse seal being activated.

"All the same, I am relieved. I haven't seen you cry in such a long time. It's unhealthy to bottle those feelings up."

"What am I going to do without you?"

Hizashi smiled sadly as he rested his cheek on his brother's hair. "You're going to rule well, take care of our children and be content."

000

Hiashi didn't think there was anything comparable to losing one's twin. Losing one's children would perhaps be close and Hiashi prayed he would never have to experience that agony for it was already asking much of his emotional endurance to deal with Hizashi's death. The hollowness was strange to bear, the sense of being adrift was disconcerting and the coiling, lashing anger was difficult to place in the neat order of his life. So it flared out uncontrollably in the oddest of circumstances.

Consequently, the council quickly realized he was no longer as malleable as before and little Hinata discovered that her father's patience was very short—yet oddly compassionate.

His little Hinata.

His sweet child who will grow up to be as kind and as beautiful as her mother did not have what was explicitly necessary to be Head of the Hyuga Clan, Hiashi was beginning to see this even though the child was only four. He was not surprised. He could relate well with her shyness, her reserved nature and she had no one to defend her when the adults became difficult or console her when the tears would not be held back.

She may favor her mother but she was, in the end, her father's child.

And Hiashi had always secretly believed that Fate got it all terribly and horribly wrong.

000

"Neji-kun," his wife said to him one day as she held their new daughter, "his seal was activated yesterday."

Hiashi paused in his paperwork before nodding and resuming his writing. It was inevitable, he thought. It was a little over a year since Hizashi's death and during that time the child had been smoldering in a hate that should only be possessed by a grown man. Dark intent coiled off the boy in plumes and the elder had no idea how to reach him, if it would even be possible—_'But I'm trying, brother. I am trying'_. Such anger and intent was bound to put the wrong person on edge and honestly, Hiashi was surprised Neji's seal was not activated sooner. He strongly suspected it would not be the last time.

"Who is taking care of him?" he asked instead.

"I do not know. You know how the child is. He stays to himself and is fiercely independent."

Hiashi nodded in agreement. His wife had always been very perceptive.

"I will personally see to him tonight. It would give me peace of mind to know he is well," she continued as she placed sleeping Hanabi in the bassinet. "We should also consider allowing him to enter the Academy this coming fall."

Hiashi looked up at that. "The Academy? Why?" It wasn't that Neji would never enter the Academy. All Branch members did at one point so as to acclimate to the village's ninja hierarchy. But the typical starting age was ten. Neji was only six.

His wife smiled sadly. "I fear for him if he spends too much time within the compound. He is so young and has so much potential…a different perspective may help him to see…to understand."

His wife understood what was at stake, was witness to how he was failing miserably in honoring his brother's dying request and she saw the opportunity—unorthodox it may be--to perhaps set things on the right path.

And for the sake of his nephew, Hiashi would swallow his pride. "Very well."

000

It was a keenly guarded secret among those of the Hyuga clan that there are those amongst them who had the gift of foresight. It was never something they could ever use to their advantage for the supernatural trait manifested without rhyme or reason and never at will so it was generally dismissed as an artifact of the Byakugan. Some would spend almost their entire lives never realizing they had such an ability until some random event triggered the appropriate neurons in the correct sequence.

His wife's foresight manifested two years later on her deathbed.

She spoke of many things as the wasting disease ate away her chakra pathways. Hiashi was a constant presence at her bedside putting all clan business aside so that they could spend her last moments together. Her sweet voice was faltering yet she was insistent upon telling him everything and ever the attentive husband, he listened.

0

"_Tell Hanabi-chan to mind her temper and be a lady. I don't care who started that fight, she is still a Hyuga…"_

0

"_Forgive Neji-kun, my darling. His wounds are deeper than we expected. Be patient with him…"_

0

"_Do not suffer in doubt. Trust in yourself..."_

0

"_Hinata-chan. Ah, Hinata-chan." She would smile proudly and tears of joy would slide freely down her face as she turned her gaze away from the future and towards her grieving husband. "She…I won't spoil the surprise," she whispered to him. _

0

Hiashi honestly didn't know what to make of the things she said, his heart too full and sick with sorrow to make sense of it. Truthfully, he thought most of what was said to be ramblings from a deteriorating mind and it was all the more painful to dwell on it. Instead, when the moment was at hand, Hiashi laid down beside his wife and held her close, not knowing if she was even aware of his presence. She was unconscious and insensible and Hiashi was at least grateful that she was no longer suffering.

0

Tears fell as he kissed her tenderly, taking in her dying breath.

"Goodbye, my beloved."

000

It would be inaccurate to say that Hyuga Hiashi was a cruel man. It was more like he was a broken man; a desolate man. For how could he look towards the horizon when his brother and wife lay in the ground? How could he see the future of the clan in Hinata's eyes when she could barely raise them from the ground? How could he hope to reconcile with Neji when the boy thought him his father's murderer? It seemed foolish to hope and Hiashi was not a foolish man.

So he stood behind the stone visage of 'Hyuga' and stayed there for many years, alienating one daughter while keeping the other in the dark as he trained her for a future that may or may not belong to her. He pushed aside the concept of family and embraced 'The Clan' because that was far easier than worrying over the welfare of his children. It was best that they fend for themselves and learn early that the Clan comes before everything.

And yet…

He found he could not always follow his own philosophy. He was secretly glad that despite being pitted against each other politically, Hinata and Hanabi had maintained a close sisterly relationship that reminded him fondly of the one he had with his brother before they became estranged. Some on the council had thought it inappropriate and not so subtly implied that the girls should be separated but Hiashi did nothing to discourage the close bond. Unconsciously, it was one link he did not want to see broken.

And later, when he heard about the Chunin Exam, he came irrepressibly close to activating his nephew's cage seal until the boy learned to like it. But then he would remember his wife's dying words and recall how he held the boy as a babe, concerned about his underweight body and the difficult circumstances he was going to face through no fault of his own, and he couldn't bring himself to do it no matter how much the boy had it coming.

Because despite it all, Hiashi was and always has been a family man.

000

It happened from time to time that Hiashi suffered from insomnia. His weighted years as Clan leader and personal tragedies made the occurrences far more frequent than he would have liked but he had learned to cope with it just as he had learned to cope with most other things. On such nights, he would be found wandering the house for no particular reason other than to think. In his younger days, he would have use the time as an opportunity to see his brother, for Hizashi was prone to insomnia as well, and they would talk about how they were going to change the Clan and make it strong and other naïve things.

0

"_It's going to take a miracle to fix this mess of a clan."_

"_What do you mean, Hizashi?"_

"_Haven't you noticed? Nobody cares for each other."_

"_We all care for the welfare of the clan. You know this."_

"_No, no, that's not what I meant. I mean, nobody __**cares**__ for each other. We're all related yet we don't act like it. The fucking Uchihas act more like a family than we do. They're always looking out for each other. I have to worry about grandmother lighting my brain on fire if I look at her wrong."_

"_Language, brother!" _

"_Phff."_

"_So, what? You think the way to make our clan strong is to make everyone be nice to each other?"_

"_Don't laugh. I'm serious. Our clan is being built around some false perception and it's not right. It goes against our nature."_

"_You're being awfully surreal tonight. Did you eat some mushrooms on your way back from your mission?_

"_Bite me!"_

"_I'm sorry—I am! Don't look at me like that. You know that I was just kidding. Seriously though, what is our nature, Hizashi? What do you mean by that?"_

0

His thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly found himself face to face with his eldest daughter as he came around the corner. It would have been an embarrassing situation for Hiashi was not paying the slightest bit of attention, though he managed not to show it, and he mentally berated himself for the lack of focus.

Hinata, on the other hand was completely flustered and red in the face. Her eyes immediately sought the floor and she clutched the blankets she was carrying tighter to her chest. "F-Father."

"What are you doing up so late, Hinata?" his voice was harsher than he intended and he was almost sorry to see the young girl flinch at his tone. But he was still recovering from his shock. Surprises did not sit well with the elder Hyuga.

"I'm sorry, Father. I…I was…"

Hiashi raised an eyebrow as he realized that Hinata was trying to lie—poorly—and was suddenly intrigued. He took in her appearance and noted that in addition to the blankets, she was carrying a covered basket that she was trying furtively to hide behind her back.

Slowly, he reached out and took the basket from her. Hinata did not protest. She simply blushed deeper and appeared to shrink more into herself as though bracing for the impending criticism. He opened it to find a carefully prepared bowl of clear broth, bandages and medicinal herbs used for reducing fevers.

Earlier that day, he learned that Neji's curse seal was activated.

Hiashi blinked as an indescribable emotion overcame him but managed to keep his face neutral. Carefully, he closed the basket and handed it back to Hinata who was now looking at him with curious astonishment. "You have training with your team tomorrow morning, yes?"

"Y-Yes, sir."

"See to it you do not stay up too late. As a Hyuga you are expected to perform at your best. A tired mind is an unfocused mind."

"Yes, Father. I will."

She bowed politely as he bid her good night. He knew that she would wait until he was around the corner before continuing on to the Branch House where her cousin needed her and he played his part; not even bothering to look back as he made his way back to his rooms.

0

"_I mean that I don't think we're cold blooded ninjas by nature. Don't get me wrong, Hiashi, we are good at what we do, but there has to be more to being Hyuga than Main and Branch. I have to believe that and the sooner we realize what that is, the better off we'll be as a clan."_

0

"You might be on to something, brother."

The End


End file.
